ISTANBUL—This week, the world once again witnessed Turkish riot police fire tear gas and water cannons on a crowd of protesters as the government took over Turkey’s top selling newspaper, Zaman, seeking to eradicate the country’s last remaining effective voice of criticism in the press.

As the tear-gassed crowd was pushed away with water cannons on Friday, the police in riot gear entered the media group and threw out all the journalists, editors and staff, including the editor-in-chief. Close to 1,000 riot police were deployed in the raid and were placed inside building with guns.

Turkish anti riot police try to disperse employees as they enter at Zaman Daily`s headquarters on March 5, 2016 in Istanbul. Turkish anti riot police try to disperse employees as they enter at Zaman Daily`s headquarters on March 5, 2016 in Istanbul.

Image: AKIF TALHA SERTTURK/AFP/

As live footage from inside the building showed, one of the police chiefs shouted, "Throw him off the staircase," as one editor was pushed down the stairs.

Turkish police chief (raiding ZAMAN daily) to officers:"Throw him (the journalist) down there.."

Government agents were seen accompanying the riot police to cheer support for the takeover. The scene was horrific. The following morning, special ops with machine guns were standing guard in front of Zaman newspaper.

A Turkish anti-riot police officer stands guard in front of the headquarters of Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016.

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

President Erdogan had long planned to take over Zaman as the paper was affiliated with Gulen Group, his main remaining adversary in his quest for absolute power. Earlier in the week, the Turkish Supreme Court — in a surprising and rare move — had released two top editors of Cumhuriyet, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from prison. They were imprisoned for writing about the illegal trafficking of weapons to radicals in Syria.

Erdogan saw their release as a direct move against his authority and wowed to show who was boss. He signaled that the two journalists would be put back in prison soon and declared "things can get shaky in the following days." Hence, the takeover of Zaman was carefully planned as the most brutal confiscation of media to date in Turkish history.

Men run and cover their faces as Turkish anti-riot police officers use tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

The confiscation of Zaman media group highlights some critical developments in Turkey. The government immediately took the media group offline, and a special tech team was brought in to completely wipe out the news archive and web content of the newspaper. And it was especially noteworthy as the government took over Cihan News Agency as part of the raid.

Turkish riot police use water cannon and tear gas to disperse supporters at Zaman daily newspaper headquarters in Istanbul on March 5, 2016.

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

Cihan, Turkey’s top news agency, was the only organization monitoring exit polling during Turkish elections beyond the state-run Anadolu Agency, and observers have pointed out that the government takeover of Cihan is a severe blow to the future of free and fair elections in Turkey.

A man lies on the sidewalk after Turkish anti-riot police officers fired tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016

Another critical aspect of the takeover is the make up of the police force. It is fair to say that President Erdogan has his own police force that he uses for these raids, using the same police chief and officers in this raids as take overs of other media groups, including Bugun TV & Ipek Media Group.

These officers are particularly brutal, often showing little respect for rule of law. Random arrests are the order of the day, in a country already intimidated by government pressure. Many young kids and devout Muslim women who were readers of Zaman were brutally injured by police during the raid.

Journalists carry an injured woman after Turkish riot-police used tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

Finally, the takeover gives a direct message to the handful of media groups that are still left. The chilling effect is clear. None of what remains of "mainstream media" covered the brutal raid and the takeover in their broadcasts on Friday. And after the raid, CNN Turk fired 3 top journalists known to be critical voices, and Twitter accounts known to be operated by Erdogan’s palace signaled that other papers such as Cumhuriyet, Sozcu, Hurriyet could be next for government takeover.

A plainclothes police officer kicks a demonstrator as Turkish anti-riot police officers disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

On Friday, the European Union, countless international media organizations and human rights networks including Amnesty International strongly condemned the raid.

Women helps another woman who felt as Turkish anti-riot police officers launch tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016

Image: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that takeover is “the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government targeting media outlets and others critical of it.” Kirby urged "Turkish authorities to ensure their actions uphold the universal democratic values enshrined in their own constitution, including freedom of speech and especially freedom of the press.”

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